On the second pre-season test in Barcelona, reigning Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel kicked things off.
On the first day of this testing phase, which spans a total of eight days at the Circuit de Catalunya—divided into two segments of four—Vettel clocked the fastest time ahead of the new season set to commence in Australia from March 16-18.
With 79 laps completed, the 24-year-old German achieved a time of one minute 23.265 seconds, besting Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg by 0.175 seconds and Lewis Hamilton of McLaren by 0.325 seconds, while Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso finished fifth with a time of 1:24.100.
Vettel remarked: ‘At the moment, it’s tough to assess where we stand compared to the others.
‘Everything is based on feeling, and so far, the sensation I have inside the car is positive.
‘Overall, it was a solid day.’
However, other teams faced a troubled day, particularly the new Mercedes. After a successful unveiling of the W03 before testing, Michael Schumacher had a smooth morning session, but experienced a hydraulic issue during the afternoon.
Despite completing 51 laps, with a best time of 1:23.150 landing him sixth, Schumacher stated: ‘My first impressions of our new car are definitely promising.
‘I’m satisfied with the different assessments we’ve undertaken over the past week, but due to the rule changes, we need to wait for more insights.
‘It’s undoubtedly an upgrade, and we meticulously targeted areas for improvement from last year.
‘Even though we encountered a hydraulic issue today, I’m pleased with the mileage we’ve amassed so far with the new vehicle.’
Romain Grosjean of Lotus, who was the quickest among the 2012 cars during the first test in Jerez earlier this month, only managed seven laps due to an unspecified problem with the latest chassis, ending his day prematurely.
After further examination of both the chassis used in Jerez and the new one, the team opted against continuing participation in this week’s sessions in Barcelona.
Heikki Kovalainen from Caterham was only able to complete 36 laps, achieving a best time of 1:26.035 to place ninth, hindered by a rear track rod failure.
Kovalainen commented: ‘That clearly wasn’t how we aimed for day one to unfold. But that’s the essence of testing—pushing everything to its limits to eliminate problems before the first race.’
Daniel Ricciardo managed to get through most of the day until a technical issue with his Toro Rosso shortened his run with an hour to spare. The Australian finished fourth fastest with his best of 76 laps resulting in a time of 1:23.618.
Similarly, Sergio Perez from Sauber dealt with multiple technical problems—one in the morning and another unrelated issue in the afternoon—restricting him to 66 laps and a best time of 1:24.219, making him seventh fastest on the day.
Behind Perez, Bruno Senna from Williams completed a respectable 97 laps, but at this early juncture, the FW34 seemed to exhibit a lack of speed as the Brazilian ended up 1.5 seconds slower than the Sauber.
With Kovalainen in ninth and Grosjean in tenth, Charles Pic filled in last place during his debut test as a full-fledged F1 driver for Marussia. Currently, Marussia is utilizing last year’s car as they prepare to debut the new challenger during the final test in Barcelona starting March 1.
While Marussia is focused on evaluating the new Pirelli tyres and practicing pit stops, Pic finished nearly five seconds behind Vettel, although he managed an impressive total of 121 laps for the day.
by Terrence Johns
